Hey, Babe
by laurenwrites
Summary: They're in their own world. Bade.


**I don't know. Beck called Jade "babe" in this week's episode and I just kind of went crazy. Whatever. And just to be clear, this isn't set during that episode or anything; it's just random idk.**

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"Hey, Babe."

When she walks into his open arms, he plants a kiss on her lips and pulls back only to get to stare into her eyes.

People stare. They stare because they're in high school and they don't (but should) know better not to; they stare because there are two people who couldn't be more beautiful (it's unfair, really) and have somehow found each other in order to make the perfect couple; they stare because these two seventeen-year-olds are currently staring at _each other_ in the hallway of Hollywood Arts as if the other one is the only person on the planet.

Most people their age call each other pet names like "babe" and "baby" for the feel of it. They like the sound of their own voice calling someone else theirs; it makes them feel older and mature and in a somewhat committed relationship. They use the nickname obnoxiously, as if it's for attention and status. They take cheesy pictures of themselves with their cell phones, kissing or making goofy faces, with captions like "Luv my baby! XOXO" that everyone only pretends to "like."

That world, however…that world of only using the term "babe" as a stereotypical moniker for a short-lived boyfriend or girlfriend, makes about as much sense to Beck Oliver as do the idiotically childish pictures.

He doesn't call Jade West, who not only happens to be the object of his affection but also the recurring subject of each and every one of his dreams—day or night, his _babe_ simply because of some nonexistent high school law. He uses the name for its most pure, denotative meaning. She _is_ his baby, the one person on the planet for whom he exists…the person he loves more than he understands or is able to describe…the person for whom he'd go to the ends of the earth just to see the smile that lights up an entire room when present.

He's obsessed with her, but it's not unrequited in the _least_. Since meeting him three years ago, she's found herself unusually short of breath at the most unexpected times. When she's not around him, she's constantly thinking about him and wishing she were in his arms. It's as if she can't breathe when she's with him, either, though, because her heart feels like it's going to beat out of its chest. Every time he touches her—be it on her lips, her fingers, her waist, or elsewhere—she feels a tingling sensation that races across her entire body. She frequently has to remind herself of her surroundings when he's there, because she could swear that the two of them are the only people in the near vicinity. It had taken her six months just to be able to focus on holding his hand and talking to people at the same time, which he hadn't minded at all.

Whether she's telling him she loves him, snapping at someone's (often stupid) comment, or even completely silent, she's _always_ talking. If there's one thing he's learned about Jade West, it's that her body language is just as powerful—if not stronger—than her words. When she's feeling insecure, she leans her head on his shoulder or chest, giving him the ability to protectively kiss her hair or forehead. When her hand is in his, she's constantly moving it around as if she wants to feel his soft skin rubbing against hers. And _every single time_ he wraps his arm around her waist to hold her, he feels her stomach shrink back like its gasping for the breath he's taken out of her. He's the only person allowed to touch her, and he'll never take that for granted.

Although she'll never say it out loud, she's obsessed with him, too. She's obsessed with the way he's always able to calm her down, even when she has no intentions of doing anything but stabbing someone with a pair of scissors. Him holding her in his arms, rubbing her back, and kissing her is all she needs to feel like all of her problems have suddenly gone away. She's obsessed with the way he plays with her hands like they've got some kind of magical powers. She doesn't know why he does it, but it never fails to give her chills each time he picks up her hands to trace shapes on them or kiss them or even just feel them. She's obsessed with the way he looks at her, like there could never be anything or anyone more beautiful ever to exist. He always gives her these protective, comforting eyes that somehow express to her just how in love with her he is.

Even after three years of dating, it still affects her each time he calls her his baby. To them, it's more than a word. It conveys all of the wonderful and complicated feelings that they have for each other and could never possibly explain. It conveys the hopes and dreams they have with and for each other, and how could they ever describe that? No one can comprehend the kind of love that Beck Oliver and Jade West have for each other except for they themselves, but neither of them minds.

No one has to understand it. They're in their own world, anyways, aren't they?


End file.
